Improvement in folding seats



J. H. HALL.

- Folding-Seats. N0 143,979. x Patented Oct. 28,1873.

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INVENTR- UNITED STATES A ATENT JOHN H. I-IALL, VOF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVMNT IN FOLING SEATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. i439979, dated October 28, 1873; application filed January l5, 1873.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN H. HALL, of Ghicago, in the county of Cook and the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Seats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l represents a side elevation of my improved folding seat; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same when the seat is removed; and Fig. 3, a side elevation of the inside of one of the seat-rails. j

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction of the hinge, and to keep the adjacent edges of the seat and its back in contact, or nearly so, at all times. t For the purpose of accomplishing1 these results my invention consists in certain novel features relating tc-`the construction and arrangement of the hinge, and of the adjacent edges of the seat and its back, all of which will be hereinafter particularly described and set forth.

In the drawing, A represents the frame or standard, which supports the seat and its back. B is the seat, and C is its back. D is a post, which projects from the part A, and constitutes the pintle of the hinge. E and E are stop projections or shoulders. F is a seatrail, and D is a pintle-socket therein. E is also a stop projection or shoulder. I deem it preferable to extend the part A laterally about the pintle D, and to enlarge the part F accordingly, so that, when these parts are united, they will each have a broad working-bearing on the other. The stops E, E', and E, are so constructed and arranged that the contact of the stops E and E will limit the downward movement of the seat, and the contact of the stops E and E" limit its upward movement, and admit of the seat being folded upward sufficiently to be out of the way. The arrangement of the pintle D is also such as to be forward of the center of gravity of the seat when the latter is folded up. Gis the lower edge of the back of the seat, and H is the rear edge of the seat. I deem it preferable, and it is a feature of my invention, to keep the edges G and H in contact, or nearly so, at all times. This I accomplish by rounding off the edge H in the line of a true circle, of which the pintle D is the center, and by making the edge G so that it will fit into the edge H.

It will now be observed that the hinge is simple in its construction, iirm, and readily applied to the use for which it is intended; that the seat may be readily folded out of the way when it is not in use, and retains itself in its position when so folded; and that children and others are prevented from having their iingers'accidentally pinched between the seat and its back during the operation of folding and imfolding the seat.

The best results will be produced if the pintle is arranged above the rail F, and about midway between the upper and lower face of the seat, and near the junction of the seat and its back, as shown.

I am awa-re that folding seats have heretd fore been so made as to retain themselves in their position when folded, and so that the seat and its back were contiguous, or nearly so, at all times; and I do not here claim these features, broadly; but

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a folding seat provided with a back, the curved edges G and H of the contiguous sla-ts ofthe scat and back, in combination with the seat hinge-pintle, arranged at a point coinciding with the center of the circle of which the said curved edges are apart, and in a line between the upper and lower faces of the seat and near the said curved edges, substantially as and for the purposes speciiied.

JNO. II. HALL.

Witnesses:

F. F. WERNER., N. O. GRIDLEY.

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